Melanie McFarland has her finger on the pulse of the television remote. The networks, the premium channels, the great shows you love and the asinine shows the rest of America watches … she knows what's on. If you have a question, e-mail her at tvgal@seattlepi.com.

One clip from the “1/2 Hour News Hour” vs. another from “The Daily Show”: We embed, you decide

A few television series simply aren’t worth profound analysis. It could be that the odds of their survival look so incredibly low, and the creative effort that went into producing seems so shoddy, that the energy it would take to expend coming up with zingers describing its overall failure would be better spent doing something else. (In my case, I’d rather pack to leave town.)

Then there are show that are essentially review proof. The targeted audience has already made up its mind about the program. Why waste time?

Anyway, both of these are reasons that I won’t go to great lengths parsing the virtues and flaws of “The 1/2 Hour News Hour,” which gets a trial run this Sunday night and next at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT, according to my onscreen guide) on Fox News Channel beyond saying when I wrote “virtues,” I was trying to be nice.

Contrary to what some hardcore Fox News Fans might think, this entry is not meant to dismiss the idea that conservatives can be funny. Hell, I’ve laughed at Dennis Miller and Drew Carey. I’ve even made it through parts of that “Thou Shalt Laugh” special hosted by Patricia Heaton.

Decent comedy transcends politics, and anyone who enjoys stand-up or satire shouldn’t be afraid to be the butt of a joke. Heaven knows liberals have given the comics of the world plenty of material. Hello — Ralph Nader? Dennis Kucinich? Sean Penn? Bongs? Where would “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” be without them — as well as every other bit of hippie granola folly?

But if those lefty satirists and “Weekend Update” aren’t doing it for Rush Limbaugh fans, somebody should. Unfortunately, that someone is not Limbaugh’s B.F.F. Joel Surnow. The “24” executive producer’s attempt at satire is a feeble stab, one with dated jokes punched up by forced laughter and cackles-in-a-can masquerading as a studio audience.

When a show relies on a bit needling the ACLU for defending white supremacists’ right to march in Skokie, Ill. — an event that happened when this critic was in grade school — can you really think of its humor as edgy? America deserves better.

Anyway, draw your own conclusions. There are two episodes of “1/2 News Hour”; the second is due to air in March. We found this scene from one of them, conveniently “leaked” onto YouTube, and embedded it here.

In the interest of fairness and balance (heh heh), I’ve also included a thematically appropriate clip that aired on Wednesday night’s “Daily Show.” You know, to provide a counterpoint, the Colmes to “1/2 Hour’s” Hannity — that is, if Colmes were better looking and had a spine.